15. Speculation

Hello readers! Well, here it is, the LONG awaited chapter! Not my longest, but there's certainly more to come. I reread the story so far and GOD I have a lot of editing mistakes. I would like to formally apologize for them and all future mistakes. So… no more babbling from me! Please enjoy and hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

The next few days went by pleasantly. Rosalie and Emmett had gone on their first date alone Wednesday night and Rose came back absolutely glowing.

"WELL? HOW WAS IT?" Alice and I asked as Rose came in.

"He's a great guy. A really great guy." She answered, giggling.

Alice then had called Jasper to see what Emmett said when he came home.

"He says, and I quote, 'Dude, she's the hottest fucking girl I've ever seen and I actually care about every word that comes out of mouthed. I'm whipped. One date and I'm already whipped man.'"

We laughed then celebrated the success with the best of Ben and Jerry's.

Thursday morning was remarkably unwindy, a miracle for the place dubbed the Windy City, although it was at least fifteen degrees colder than the day before. It was so cold, that that when you breathed in your nose would freeze and stick together. So much fun.

I hurried to work as fast as my numb legs could carry me and rushed right to the coffee station, desperate for warmth. As I was adding sugar I felt hands snake around my waist and a chin rest in the crook of my neck.

"Remind me why I moved to Chicago and not somewhere sunny, like Jacksonville?" I asked, leaning into him.

"Hmm…" He hummed, his icy breath trickling down my neck, "Well, for starters, I'm in Chicago and not in Jacksonville. Maybe you were drawn to me. I do have that effect of people."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure that's it. Now let me go. I was just starting to thaw out and you're frigid." I said, as I leaned away from him, rubbing my hands together in an attempt to generate some heat.

"I don't think so." He murmured, pulling me back into his arm and kissing my neck, before turning me around and tenderly kissing my lips.

I hummed contently and slid my arms up his chest and around his neck. He pulled away and smiled down at me.

"Good morning, beautiful."

I had no idea where all this mush was coming from but I sure as hell didn't complain. I didn't even try to fight the ginormous grin that spread across my face.

"Good morning, handsome."

Just then the doorbell chimed, and we looked up to see Ben and Angela enter, the latter with a smile so big her cheeks must be hurting.

"Oh Ben I told you they were a thing! Alright, pay up." She squealed, holding her hand out.

Ben sighed and reluctantly took out a five and placed it into his wife's hand.

"You were betting on our relationship!?" I exclaimed.

"Sorry." Angela said, not looking very sorry at all. "But this isn't why I came today. I wanted to tell you guys that we're finally expecting!" She gushed, grabbing Ben's hand.

"Oh, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you two!" I said, walking over to hug both of them.

"Nicely done." Edward smirked before also hugging them.

"Thinking of baby names yet?" I asked.

"Well, I think if it's a boy we should name him Mike and if it's a girl, Jessica."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Those are the whitest suburban names I've ever heard. I'm an author for God sake's Angela. I can't have my child named something so generic. I want a cool name, like Embry."

"And for a girl?"

"I don't know, how about you morph our mother's names together or something."

Angela huffed and rolled her eyes, before turning back to us. "We obviously have some work to do in the name department. It's a good thing we have plenty of time for that."

"When are you due?" I asked.

"September 13th! Oh you have to come the baby shower, and we'll bring him, or her, here as soon as we can so you can meet him!"

September. Would I be here in September? Hell, would I be here next month? Thoughts I had been trying to put off suddenly flooded my mind.

I listened to Angela and Ben talk for the rest of their stay without taking any of it in. What was I doing? How long did I plan on staying in Chicago? I wasn't a fool. I knew I couldn't stay forever. I would have to leave at some point. But when?

"Bella, love, are you okay?"

I whipped my head around to see Edward's concerned face.

"What did you just call me?"

"Um, your name? Bella?"

He must not have even noticed the endearment. But I sure did. He called me love. Love. My heartbeat sped as I felt moisture rushing to my eyes. Yes, I'm aware of the over dramatic reaction. But he called me love.

I smiled. "I'm okay. I'm much more than okay." Then I wrapped my arms around him.

He hesitated before chuckling and hugging me back. "Bella Swan you are one complicated woman."

"You have no idea."

…

The rest of the work day went by smoothly. We had a few more customers than normal, which I attributed to the cold weather. What better place to go on a cold winter day than a warm, cozy bookshop that sells coffee?

Edward insisted on walking me home when closing time came around. As the wall of ice hit us upon opening the door, he slid his hand into mine and smiled. He really was such a handsome man. With his cheeks all rosy from the cold and that twinkle in his eye when he looked at me it was hard to imagine he was human at all. Surely he must be some sort of angel.

Once inside of my apartment building I rushed to get into my room, where the heater and sweats awaited. I was so in a hurry that I didn't bother to knock before entering the apartment. Boy was that a mistake.

"Mm… Oh my God. Jasper."

"You like that my little cowgirl?"

Oh my God. This is not happening.

But it was. I walked in to see my roommate and Jasper going at it on the rug in front of the TV. Alice had her legs straddled and resting on Jasper's shoulders as he pounded into her.

"MY EYES!" I screeched, running to my room before I could make eye contact with either of them. I heard muffled laughter and the rustling of clothes, before hearing the door open and shut. A few minutes later Alice came in looking slightly flurried with her shirt on backwards.

"Sorry you had to see that. You could've at least waited to come in until after I finished." She chuckled.

"I will definitely be knocking every single time I enter this apartment from now on." I shuddered.

"Oh come on, like you and Edward don't do the same thing." She looked at me knowingly.

"We haven't...done that..." I stuttered.

"Really?" She looked genuinely surprised. "You two have such a connection... I figured all that anger you two had for each other would have came out as super-hot sex by now. I mean, weren't you at his apartment on you last date?"

"Yes... but we haven't gotten that far."

"Do you want to go that far?"

Did I? Yes. HELL yes. Based off of what we've done so far, sex with Edward would be… magical. But should I? No. He's 22. And I'm fucking 16.

"I don't...yes." I grinned sheepishly.

"Well, then it's all in a matter of time." She winked before skipping out to get cleaned up.

"What do you want for dinner?" She yelled from the bathroom.

"Um... doesn't matter. I can teach you how to make spaghetti!"

"Ooh! Okay you go check and make sure we have everything we need!"

I knew we did, as I had bought the ingredients on my last trip to the grocery store, but I walked into the kitchen anyways to get everything set up.

"Where's Rosalie?" I yelled as I pulled the marinara sauce from the cabinet.

"With Emmett... again." Alice answered, smiling, as she entered the room and took a seat on a bar stool.

"Again? Goodness, that's like three nights in a row!"

"I know... I think she really likes him. It kind of amazing, I never thought she'd date again after…" Alice trailed off, looking down.

"After who?"

"Royce." Her face twisting as the name came out. "Royce King. The son of a bitch that used her as his own personal punching bag a couple of years ago. She was under his spell... the strongest thing she ever did was leave him. We all thought he'd ruined dating for her forever. But Emmett proves us wrong."

"Oh my God. That's terrible!" So I wasn't the only one who had had abusive relationships. We weren't so different, Rose and I. Two scared little girls who mustered up the courage to leave our abusers. My respect for Rosalie rose exponentially.

"Emmett would never hurt her." Alice spoke, more to herself than to me. "It's not in his nature. He's a protector."

"I agree."

"You do?" Alice asked, looking up eagerly. "It's just, if this turns out to be another Royce and I'm the one who set it up… What kind of sister does that make me?"

"Alice. You're an amazing sister. You need to trust your intuition, I sure do."

She smiled. "Thanks girlie." Then she crossed the kitchen to hug me.

"So, spaghetti time?"

"Yes, spaghetti time." I laughed, effectively ending the conversation.

Dinner was ready by the time Rose came home, and we all sat in front of the TV with our sauced noodles and garlic bread, the heaviness of the earlier conversation long gone.

"So Bella, how long have you been in the city?" Rose asked as we devoured our meals.

"Um... a little over a month now!" Wow. Had it been that long?

"Are you going to school here too, like Alice?"

"Uh... no. Just working at the bookshop for now." Here we go again.

"Well, at least you're graduated. I am SO CLOSE! I feel like such a child around you two…" She confessed.

Rosalie definitely did not look like a child. She could easily pass for being in her early twenties. I was the obvious child of the three of us.

"Oh course you're a child! My baby sister, forever and always!" Alice joked, playfully shoving her.

"Whatever!" She laughed. Seeing them interact made me happy.

As I got ready for bed that night I couldn't help think about the earlier conversation involving my sex life.

Was I taking it too slow? Did he think I was? Was I even good at what we'd done so far? I started to question my sexual performance. If I could turn back time and get to choose who I would give my virginity to, I would give it to Edward in a heartbeat. But maybe it was for the better that I had the other experiences in my memory. This way I won't take sex, particularly sex with Edward, for granted. But was it as good for him as it was for me? I wasn't sure.

But I would damn make sure it was for our date this Saturday.

Yes, the plot becomes sexier! I just want to put out a disclaimer that I do not approve of underage sex with someone who is over 18 in real life… but this is not reality so anything goes. Leave a review if you want and thanks for your time!